Breakfast in air
One of the best companies of the last decade, was also one of the worst affected during covid. That also meant me spending relatively less time on an app that I have constantly evangelized to the 14 people in my network who care (although to my credit, I did convert a family member who only swore by hotels when they travel).
From the people living above the rock, some may have guessed that I am talking about Airbnb. I followed a lot of interviews of their CEO Brian Chesky during the covid period and they are a masterclass on how to handle a global crisis with empathy and leadership. This all resulted in a blockbuster IPO earlier this year and recently they announced 100s of improvements in their app - which in itself is a great read (side note: I really love the new changes). Not to mention one of my favorite newsletter authors on product management worked at airbnb and shares a lot from that experience (he also features in one of the articles today).
Airbnb is again one of my most favorite products and a great source of learning on how to iterate on a customer problem to achieve a vision. They have their share of critics but there is no denying the fact that Airbnb has changed the way we travel around the globe.
So how does Airbnb build products - only one way to find out!